Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:42 am

Kool Moe Dee

Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:30 pmPosts: 2496

Action figure collecting goes in waves, in the late 90's early 2000's it was super hot with figures being "worth" lots of money then slowly it kind of just faded out and you could go to the store and buy any figure from any line at any time. It's only been in the last couple of years that it's picked up steam again but it appears to be short lived and the concept of action figure collecting does seem to be on the way out again. I think most of it has to do with cost to be honest, toys get collected because they are cool and cheap, but as they get popular manufacturers raise the prices and people start dropping off until all you have are toys that are cool and expensive and ultimately cancelled.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:01 am

Cold-cast

Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:50 pmPosts: 432

Shellhead wrote:

Say it's 2021 and you go into a Walmart. What will the action figure aisle (or section, as entire aisles are already disappearing) look like?

My opinion on this matter is that the economy is in terrible shape. By terrible I mean it's about to get as bad as the Great Depression or worse. By 2021 I do not think Wal-Mart will exist as we know it today.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:01 am

Wonderdog

Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 4:45 pmPosts: 721Location: South Central PA

I think action figure collecting will become more and more of a niche market, like sports card collecting. Older stuff will start to be traded similarly, as newer stuff continues to rise in price while failing to meet the expectations of collectors. And the internet will continue to grow as a factor in how we collectors acquire new pieces. For me, the days of The Hunt have been over for quite a while. I can't remember the last time I had a pleasant surprise in the toy aisle; eBay and scalping have for years been clearing out desirable figures long before I ever spot them at general retail. If it wasn't for sites like BBTS I would have far too many holes in my collection. And as prices continue to soar, my ability to collect plummets -- I'm on a fixed income, and I just can't drop twenty bucks for every DC Direct figure that catches my eye, or ten bucks for a 4-inch figure at TRU.

Say it's 2021 and you go into a Walmart. What will the action figure aisle (or section, as entire aisles are already disappearing) look like?

My opinion on this matter is that the economy is in terrible shape. By terrible I mean it's about to get as bad as the Great Depression or worse. By 2021 I do not think Wal-Mart will exist as we know it today.

Wow. That's REALLY pessimistic. If the economy does tank again, I bet Walmarts will do even better business because they typically have the lowest prices out there (unless you want to buy groceries at the dollar stores, that is).

But you are right that the economy is just terrible, and let's face it, action figures (along with most toys) are luxuary items. I like what Tom said about action figures becoming a niche market. I see the card section everytime I walk through a Target/Walmart and I can't help but cringe at the prices (I think Magic was on sale at $4 a pack). That's probably exactly how the typical mom feels when she realizes $10 can't even buy two lousy action figures anymore.

_________________Leave it up to a billionaire to buy the world some time --- Tony Stark

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:09 pm

Tis' but a pup

Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:51 pmPosts: 25

For years I have felt the same.

My son is 6 years old and he prefers Super Mario over the giant bin of X-Men and other mixed action figures I handed down to him from when I was a little squirt. I just don’t get it. As a kid I would sit on my bed and play with my guys for hours on end and lose track of all time. Instead of watching TV, I had my own series going on right there in my room that I picked up on the next day right where I left off. Sometimes I would sneak figures under the covers in my bed so I could play even after my mom told me to wrap it up and go to sleep.

Even before my son was old enough to understand I would go on Ebay and order lots of used X-Men and He-Man action figures preparing for the day when he’d be old enough to understand how to bang them together. I still sit on Ebay for hours at a time looking through the old Z-Bots, Battle Beasts, X-Men, and He-Man figures searching for deals and at the same time remembering the fun I had as a kid. As the years go by it seems all for not.

I agree with every point made in the initial post. Kids want to stair at a screen rather than use their imagination. They would rather by a game than three or four over-priced action figures. It’s a shame to be honest.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:34 pm

Resin

Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:30 pmPosts: 362

Van Statten wrote:

the Action Figure as we call it, is not going anywhere... least in any of our lifetimes. DVD was around for a long while before VHS was truly phased out. .

I just wanna say that my GF still has about 200 VHS tapes in my house (where she lives) and we still watch them. She greatly prefers the grainy quality of the VHS version of Purple Rain than the DVD copy she has.

And I've still got vinyl records that I play. So old school technologies like action figures will still be around even with video games and iPhones, but they wil increasinly be for a niche market.

So much like vinyl, action figures will more and more become produced in smaller numbers and bought by fewer people, and cost more, but become of much better quality. In fact, all those things are already happening.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:09 pm

3 3/4"

Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:25 pmPosts: 637

FIrst, I will say it again, there is NOTHING recording who is buying what toys nor why. NO ONE knows exactly what the ratio of kids to collectors is. Also it probably isn't consistant through lines (ie I bet clone wars gets more attention from kids than Marvel Universe for instance).

Another one I keep pointing out, is if kids are the primary market why is all the marketing engergy going to collectors? Q&A's, Conventions, The ads in comics are clearly aimed at adults (which is the primary of the comic market anymore), with the exception of very few commerials (mostly to Clone Wars, Green Lantern, and Occasionally Transformers) there is virtually nothing marketed to kids nowadays. Some blame the digital age, but I tend to think companies have failed to make a compelling product for kids and also failed to inform them about anything at all about it.

That said I think Action Figs will eventually be kind of like model trains, some will keep it going but most will admire from a far.

_________________[url]http://www.zedsjoesite.com/[/url] Home of Scale Wars an action-comedy Photowebcomic updated Mon-Fri

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:57 am

Far Too Concerned with his Post Count

Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:16 pmPosts: 4821Location: Pasadena, Texas

zedhatch wrote:

FIrst, I will say it again, there is NOTHING recording who is buying what toys nor why. NO ONE knows exactly what the ratio of kids to collectors is. Also it probably isn't consistant through lines (ie I bet clone wars gets more attention from kids than Marvel Universe for instance).

Another one I keep pointing out, is if kids are the primary market why is all the marketing engergy going to collectors? Q&A's, Conventions, The ads in comics are clearly aimed at adults (which is the primary of the comic market anymore), with the exception of very few commerials (mostly to Clone Wars, Green Lantern, and Occasionally Transformers) there is virtually nothing marketed to kids nowadays. Some blame the digital age, but I tend to think companies have failed to make a compelling product for kids and also failed to inform them about anything at all about it.

That said I think Action Figs will eventually be kind of like model trains, some will keep it going but most will admire from a far.

1. This would be easy to fix, do a survey. There are companies for that. I believe they don't want to know so they can keep using their excuses.

2. When did you ever see a kid with enough money to pay the prices they are charging these days. Even in my day I still needed mom to loosen the pursestrings. If I was a kid now, I would want action figures AND video games, but would have to choose, and as we already know, with todays kids, the games win out.

CCC.

_________________The expediency of acquired knowledge is preponderant upon determining a justifiable conclusion, unattainable at this time.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:23 am

3 3/4"

Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:25 pmPosts: 637

LordMudd wrote:

zedhatch wrote:

FIrst, I will say it again, there is NOTHING recording who is buying what toys nor why. NO ONE knows exactly what the ratio of kids to collectors is. Also it probably isn't consistant through lines (ie I bet clone wars gets more attention from kids than Marvel Universe for instance).

Another one I keep pointing out, is if kids are the primary market why is all the marketing engergy going to collectors? Q&A's, Conventions, The ads in comics are clearly aimed at adults (which is the primary of the comic market anymore), with the exception of very few commerials (mostly to Clone Wars, Green Lantern, and Occasionally Transformers) there is virtually nothing marketed to kids nowadays. Some blame the digital age, but I tend to think companies have failed to make a compelling product for kids and also failed to inform them about anything at all about it.

That said I think Action Figs will eventually be kind of like model trains, some will keep it going but most will admire from a far.

1. This would be easy to fix, do a survey. There are companies for that. I believe they don't want to know so they can keep using their excuses.

2. When did you ever see a kid with enough money to pay the prices they are charging these days. Even in my day I still needed mom to loosen the pursestrings. If I was a kid now, I would want action figures AND video games, but would have to choose, and as we already know, with todays kids, the games win out.

CCC.

1. True but even then how to you ensure it will be accurate? There are so many ways a sample could be flawed it's not funny. Let alone the fact that sometimes pwople will answer what they think someone else wants to hear. But it's a moot point since no one will ever do it.

2. Price is something I never brought up, but it is a good one, however if a kid can afford the latest X-Box 360 (or any next gen system) game at around %60 they probably can afford a few figs. The real question becomes why do they spend it on the game rather than the toys. Some blame parents, but reality is the kids are the ones saying "I want this" (and believe me, kids will give you tons of problems for stuff they DIDN'T want if they get it).

_________________[url]http://www.zedsjoesite.com/[/url] Home of Scale Wars an action-comedy Photowebcomic updated Mon-Fri

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:58 am

Far Too Concerned with his Post Count

Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:16 pmPosts: 4821Location: Pasadena, Texas

zedhatch wrote:

1. True but even then how to you ensure it will be accurate? There are so many ways a sample could be flawed it's not funny. Let alone the fact that sometimes pwople will answer what they think someone else wants to hear. But it's a moot point since no one will ever do it.

I have done a couple of surveys. These people have a front in the malls by a door to catch people coming or going and ask if they will do a survey. Some pay, some don't, usually from $2 to $10 depending on what the client has provided. Example: If Pepsi wants to do a survey, they contract this company to conduct it. There are no Pepsi people ever there, and can be other surveys going on at the same time. They will also have criteria like age or gender based on the product. In this case the survey taker would target parents with kids to ask about their toy buying habits. A single person in their 20's would be ignored. Teens by themselves might be approached but would most likely decline. The company has experience at keeping these unbiased, but are limited by the criteria set by the client. I have not seen so much of this lately. My wife signed up to do surveys on line. I tried a couple of these but did not meet the client criteria so did not get paid, so I stopped. It seems to me that online survey would be less biased because it would be easier to catch the collectors too, unless the client criteria is deliberately designed to weed them out.

Example: Are you a parent?Yes. What toys do you buy for your children?No. We are sorry, you do not meet the criteria for this survey. Thank you.

CCC.

_________________The expediency of acquired knowledge is preponderant upon determining a justifiable conclusion, unattainable at this time.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:37 pm

3 3/4"

Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:25 pmPosts: 637

LordMudd wrote:

zedhatch wrote:

1. True but even then how to you ensure it will be accurate? There are so many ways a sample could be flawed it's not funny. Let alone the fact that sometimes pwople will answer what they think someone else wants to hear. But it's a moot point since no one will ever do it.

I have done a couple of surveys. These people have a front in the malls by a door to catch people coming or going and ask if they will do a survey. Some pay, some don't, usually from $2 to $10 depending on what the client has provided. Example: If Pepsi wants to do a survey, they contract this company to conduct it. There are no Pepsi people ever there, and can be other surveys going on at the same time. They will also have criteria like age or gender based on the product. In this case the survey taker would target parents with kids to ask about their toy buying habits. A single person in their 20's would be ignored. Teens by themselves might be approached but would most likely decline. The company has experience at keeping these unbiased, but are limited by the criteria set by the client. I have not seen so much of this lately. My wife signed up to do surveys on line. I tried a couple of these but did not meet the client criteria so did not get paid, so I stopped. It seems to me that online survey would be less biased because it would be easier to catch the collectors too, unless the client criteria is deliberately designed to weed them out.

Example: Are you a parent?Yes. What toys do you buy for your children?No. We are sorry, you do not meet the criteria for this survey. Thank you.

CCC.

Your example illistrates the point I was making earlier, it totally ignored part of the population and thus made the sample flawed because you will not have a representitive sample. This is EXACTLY the practice that would need to be avoided IF a real study were ever make into who buys what in the toy isles (and in addition there are a ton of variables that are not and probably wouldn't be taken into account).

The whole point is that even if you did a survay like you are suggesting therer are tons of ways it will come out flawed. Keeping it online exclusively will probably limit the kids side of things as well since it's very easy to assume that parents still prefer brick and mortar stores over online shopping in relation to such items (hard to say for certain however) and it is just as easy to assumethat manyadult collectors use online only due to more disposible income and convenience. Point is the idea has some merit but is rife with flaws. That is ignoreing the fact that none of the toy companies are liekly to try anyway/

_________________[url]http://www.zedsjoesite.com/[/url] Home of Scale Wars an action-comedy Photowebcomic updated Mon-Fri

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 9:11 am

HEY! New guy! GET HIM!

Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:05 amPosts: 13

The "niche market" explanation is spot on. There's the toys that kids play with (notice any Iron Man or Spider-Man toys flooding the shelves?) and there's the collector aimed figures with very little cross-market. Star Wars may be the only thing suitable for both.

The problem I've been saying for years, is that the cool toy is non-existent. By that I mean, a property that is originated as an action figure and anything else is created simply to promote it. Everything's video game/movie/comic based in retail now. It's a risky idea, I know...but a company like Mattel or Hasbro could maybe afford to take a chance.

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:23 am

3 3/4"

Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:32 amPosts: 620Location: Redlands, CA

For me, the day toys stop being available in local stores is the day I stop collecting toys. The chase is the only fun part of collecting action figures. Having them... not at all. If it's just a matter of logging on, clicking a few boxes and whipping out my credit card, where is the fun in that?

Post subject: Re: Is the Action Figure as we know it an Endangered Species

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:54 am

Loose, Missing Package

Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:30 pmPosts: 11017Location: Cox's Creek, KY

smash_adams wrote:

The problem I've been saying for years, is that the cool toy is non-existent. By that I mean, a property that is originated as an action figure and anything else is created simply to promote it. Everything's video game/movie/comic based in retail now. It's a risky idea, I know...but a company like Mattel or Hasbro could maybe afford to take a chance.

Might I suggest you take a detour over to the fasion doll aisle and check out Monster High. Probably the best "toy first" concept to come out of the big companies in years (yes, there are a ton of off-shoots, but the property started within Mattel as a toy line). I hope whoever convinced the powers-that-be within Mattel to market monster toys to girls got a big, whoppin' bonus last year.

For me, the day toys stop being available in local stores is the day I stop collecting toys. The chase is the only fun part of collecting action figures. Having them... not at all.

Maybe you should take up hunting or geo-caching.

While I do enjoy the "rush" of seeing something new on the pegs that I'm looking for, the hunt itself is kind of a drag. The only reason I don't buy more online is A) the price is usually higher and B) I don't like paying for shipping.

There is an advantage of holding it in your hand to check the paint apps and limb warpage, however.

_________________Leave it up to a billionaire to buy the world some time --- Tony Stark